Mako's Bad Day
by avatarfan82
Summary: The day started normally and Mako was feeling good...until he reported to the police station for work. After having basically everything go wrong all day, he returned home craving some peace and quiet. What he actually got when he arrived home was the news of a lifetime. Note: ONESHOT with some fluffiness.


Mako stood in the bathroom, getting ready for work. He stared at himself in the mirror for a moment, trying to figure out if he was satisfied with his appearance. Deciding he looked okay for his purposes, he shrugged and exited the bathroom. He walked quietly over to the bed where his peacefully sleeping wife was huddled under blankets with a pillow over her head. He knelt down, carefully shifted the blankets to the side, and planted a soft kiss on her slightly protruding belly. She was now a little over four months pregnant and just starting to show.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" Korra complained groggily, as she peered at him from under her pillow.

"I thought you were still asleep?" Mako said, shifting his attention to her. "Besides, what's wrong with me giving my little one a kiss goodbye before I go to work?"

She removed the pillow covering her head and pulled Mako's face down near hers.

"I'm supposed to get those kisses first." She said seriously. He chuckled and kissed her neck playfully, causing her to giggle and push him away.

Then he stood and grabbed his keys and wallet.

"I'm going now. Please try not to get into any arguments with the council members today, okay?" Mako cautioned.

"Well, they shouldn't say useless things during the meetings. Plus, they know I'm pregnant so they should try even harder to not irritate me." Korra responded, sitting up now and leaning against the head board. She crossed her arms and furrowed her eyebrows, as if trying to look intimidating. Mako raised an eyebrow at her display.

"I'm serious." he said leaning back down to give her a quick kiss on the forehead. "Be nice. You can't blame your hormones for everything."

Before she could protest again, he grabbed his coat and turned to leave the room.

"I should be home at the regular time tonight. Make sure you eat breakfast!" he called as he headed toward the front door.

"Yeah, okay." She called back.

With that, Mako breezed out the front door and headed to work.

* * *

The moment Mako walked through the door at the police station, he was interrupted by one of his comrades saying that they were going to have to immediately go out on a call for drunk and disorderly conduct. Mako was amazed that someone could be drinking so early in the morning, but was angry to find an entire family involved by the time he arrived on the scene. No one was hurt, but the kids would have to be taken to a safe place until a suitable home could be found for them.

As soon as that situation ended, he was immediately called back to the station, where he got chewed out by Lin for not filing a piece of paperwork properly. After some investigation, he discovered that it was an administrative error and not his fault. Lin had given a curt apology and stormed off, which made Mako even more angry. After returning to his desk to try to work on more paperwork that was piling up, he was met by another officer who had to fearfully explain that there had been some "missing" paperwork that had mysteriously resurfaced and was due months ago. Apparently, it needed to be completed urgently. Mako sighed heavily, as he replaced one large stack of forms for another and began typing.

He was glad by the time lunch came around because he just knew there was no way the day could get more frustrating. As he went to grab his lunch bag out of his desk drawer, he noticed it felt lighter than it was supposed to. When he opened it, all he saw was a half-eaten sandwich and an empty bag of fire flakes, one of his favorite snacks. He resisted the urge to yell at the top of his lungs, but calmly asked around the office for any suspicious behavior related to his lunch. He soon found out that the culprit was the son of one of the staff members there. Apparently the kid was waiting to be picked up by his grandparents, and ransacked the office while he was waiting. He went through everyone's desks and must have found and eaten Mako's food. Mako thought he had reached the limit of his anger, but this was taking things to a whole new level.

"This day is…unbelievable." He said through gritted teeth as he prepared to resume his position at his desk. Before he could actually grab his pen to begin writing, his phone rang. Knowing he would regret answering it, he picked it up anyway and was met by an emergency request to report to the center of town where a hit and run had taken place. There were no deaths, but a pedestrian was seriously injured and the driver was nowhere to be found. He wasn't even assigned to traffic duty that day, but was being dragged into it because another officer had switched his schedule around without notifying Mako first. He slammed the phone down into its cradle, grabbed his jacket, and stormed out of the station and to the scene of the crime.

He spent the next 3 hours consoling distraught family members and promising capture of the accused. With what little energy he had left, he dragged himself back to the office and stood before his overflowing desk. He noticed several new messages had been scrawled on scratch paper and left on his desk, asking for something to be completed immediately or due first thing tomorrow morning. He stood there for a full minute, deciding whether or not to even give the effort. Finally he grabbed his things, and deliberately headed for the door. He was officially calling this day finished.

The ride home was relatively peaceful, with only a little less traffic than normal, and he felt a sense of relief as he pulled into the driveway of his home. He parked his motorcycle, and walked slowly up the stairs. When he got to the porch and was just about the grab the door knob, the door swung open and Korra stood there beaming at him.

"Hi, honey! How was your day?" she said cheerily as she let him in and closed the door behind him.

He sighed wearily and shook his head as he trudged through the door.

"Just…don't ask." He responded collapsing on the couch and tossing his coat over a chair.

She joined him on the couch and lovingly rubbed his back.

"Sounds pretty rough." She said and he nodded.

"The roughest." He responded, rubbing his eyes. "I'm pretty sure there wasn't one thing that didn't go wrong at work today."

"Tell me what happened." She said getting into a comfortable position on the couch. After a moment's hesitation to gather his thoughts, he launched into the story of his day. By the time he had finished, Korra's mouth was hanging open in disbelief.

"I didn't know it was possible to have so many problems in an 8 hour period." she mused and Mako nodded.

"Yeah, neither did I."

Korra took his hand and smiled sadly at the disheveled state of his clothes and the haggard look on his face.

"Well, maybe this will cheer you up." She said, excitement creeping into her voice. She then pulled out a tiny pair of blue socks and handed them to him. Puzzled, he took the socks and stared at them before saying,

"Korra, I can't fit these."

This resulted in a long fit of laughter from Korra. When she was able to gain control of herself again, she said, "Silly, these aren't for you."

Mako looked even more confused as he fingered the tiny, fuzzy socks and said, "Then who are they for?"

Korra shook her head as she placed a hand on her round tummy.

"Wow, you really are out of it. They're for our child, smart guy."

"Really? But these are blue and we don't know what we're…. " he trailed off looking into her eyes. It took a matter of seconds for him to register what the look on her face plus the item in his hands meant. Finally, his expression changed to shock.

"Our baby…is a boy?!" he exclaimed and Korra nodded as she grinned.

"Yes! Spirits, I was wondering how long it would take you to figure that out!" she said. "I had an appointment with Katara today and she was able tell his gender. You're going to have a son, Mako." she finished, resting her chin on his shoulder.

Mako continued to stare blankly down at the baby socks in his hand until the image completely blurred from the tears that had filled his eyes. He had always wanted a son to teach things to and play with and just be there for. Now that it was actually happening, he was reminded of his own father. If he could be half of the man his father was, he would be doing just fine.

Korra knew exactly what thoughts were going through his mind and wrapped her arms around his middle in a warm hug. He lifted his arm and placed it around her as he rested his cheek on the top of her head.

"Are you happy?" she asked and he nodded as he smiled and swiped his eyes.

"Couldn't be happier." He replied.

After a moment, Korra continued,

"I know you had a bad day today, but I hope that makes it a little better."

Mako looked at her in mock confusion and said, "What bad day?"

Korra chuckled as he smiled and gently stroked her belly. He couldn't wait for the next few months to pass so he could meet his little boy. At that moment, a thought occurred to him and he reached for the phone.

"I've got to call Bo and tell him that he's going to have a nephew!" Mako said hurriedly dialing the number. Korra grinned and got to her feet. Before she had a chance to take a step toward the kitchen, Mako grabbed her and pulled her down so their faces were close. Without a word, he kissed her tenderly for a long moment. After he pulled away, Korra's eyes were wide and she fanned herself.

"Woah, I guess I should bring you baby socks more often!" She said as she turned back to go to the kitchen. Mako gave her a playful swat on the bottom before focusing his attention back to his phone call.

* * *

**This one is finally the length I want! Anyway, this concept has been floating around in my head for a little while, so I was glad to be able to write it out. As always, reviews are very much appreciated! **


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